First off I'm a security system newbie, but I've done a little reading.

I purchased a HIKvision 8016HFI. It's a 16 channel system which records 30fps (per channel) at 4CIF and is setup with 8TB of storage. There are 15 cameras all are 520TVL with Sony CCD's and connected with RG6 siamese cable. Cable lengths range from 50 to 400 feet.

My next step in the installation is to connect a PC as an image server so I can use the DVR software and graphical interface controls.

Currently the system is connected directly to an LCD monitor (I've tried two different monitors) and is recording at maximum resolution at 15fps.

PROBLEM: The problem is the image quality seems to be a bit fuzzy and is not sharp and clear. This is the case on all channels.

Questions:
1) Could the image quality be less than sharp because I'm using the VGA connection directly from the DVR?

2) When I get the LAN connection between the DVR and the computer up and running with the computer output connected to the monitor via a DVI connection to the monitor, should the image quality improve?


Thanks for any advice you can provide.

4CIF is only 704x480 resolution, so it's not going to be huge to begin with.



Possible, if your display resolution is less than the native resolution of the LCD. What size/model of LCD is it? How do the interface graphics (on-screen text, controls, etc.) look? Fuzzy as well?



The overall image MIGHT, depending on display settings; that won't affect the video from the cameras, however.

You might check the compression settings on your DVR - the higher the compression, the more artifacts and the lower the video quality.

"Possible, if your display resolution is less than the native resolution of the LCD. What size/model of LCD is it? How do the interface graphics (on-screen text, controls, etc.) look? Fuzzy as well?"



Yes, the control text on the screen are fuzzy too. I forgot to mention this.

I don't have access to the LCD as this time but it's a 19 inch computer monitor. I've tried two different models with the same results.

Your comments about the LCD resolution have me thinking, I'm going to check that and also make sure the compression settings are correct.

Thanks[/i]

Sounds like you're running at the wrong resolution. A typical 19" 16:10 widescreen VGA monitor will have a native resolution of 1440x900, while a 4:3 "non-widescreen" 14" will usually run at 1280x1024. If your DVR or computer is not using that resolution, the monitor will have to up-scale the image, and it WILL look soft. Worse, if your device is using a 4:3 aspect ratio display resolution, the monitor will be "stretching" it to fit the 16:10 aspect, which will make it look even worse.